Incumbency! 🏭

I was thinking how silly it is of the electric utilities to not be promoting electric cars. Increasing demand for night time generation could be very profitable for the utilities and help smooth out there loads. It might even save many a coal fired and nuclear power plant, which are such big loosers with the low revenue during the night time.

But alas, most of the utility companies are more interested in doing the things the way they always have. Change is risky. But utilities have all the advantages when the grid becomes more renewable and more electrified. They have the high voltage wires, the transformers and the rural land that keeps the nuisances of generation of energy far away. Plus it’s not clear if electrifying more of America is actually that bad for them, especially the coal and nuclear operators.

But then again, it’s not always clear that business leaders are profit and power maximizers or if they are more concerned with incumbency and resisting change. Any time the world changes it can be pretty risky especially if you are an industry leader.